How Did Gender Roles Reflected By The First World War?

The First World War was a time of rapid change in many regards. The way war was waged changed just as much as societies did, and the conflict uprooted order on more than just the battlefield. The home front faced new challenges, such as food shortages by embargoes, or more direct attacks from soldiers. Issues there were particularly exacerbated by the difficulties faced by women as they filled in both men’s and women’s roles. Though the war forced many movements, such as the women’s movement, to ease their work, it certainly did not cease. To understand the level of change brought about by the first world war, it is imperative to understand Europe prior to the war. Gender roles significantly impacted what expectations and actions were expected of women, and gender roles in pre-war Europe
“Of course, I also accepted the whole patriarchal system of things, convinced of the natural supremacy of male over female” (Graves, 27). His attitude was a common one at the time, and this idea of separation and hierarchy down to the biological heavily influenced male and female alike. Women were to fulfill the domestic idea of the time. A good woman was docile and obedient, a gentle, passionless homebody content with her republican motherhood. “My mother took the ‘love, honour, and obey’ contract literally,” Graves notes, showing common expectations for women in passing observation (Graves, 27). These expectations were ingrained in the system of gender, and deviation was frowned upon. In the same passage, Graves reflects, “My sisters were brought up to wish themselves boys, to be shocked at the idea of women’s suffrage,” but that was an idea being challenged even prior to the outbreak of war. With the industrialization of Europe, minority groups across the board were protesting for rights, and one of the most prevalent was women. The suffrage movement, particularly in Britain,